The Scaled Agile Framework®, or SAFe®, has roles that are usually associated with different levels: Team, Program, Solution, and Portfolio.
Key SAFe roles at Team level
The key SAFe roles and main responsibilities at team level are:
- Agile Team – responsible for delivery and quality of the work undertaken.
- Scrum Master – responsible for ensuring the team works well and follows the processes.
- Product Owner – responsible for prioritizing stories and ensuring they are well described and understood.
Key SAFe roles at the Program level
The key SAFe roles and main responsibilities at the program level are:
- Product Manager – responsible for prioritizing features and ensuring they are well described and understood.
- Release Train Engineer - responsible for ensuring the agile release train (the team of agile teams) work well together and follow the processes.
- Customer – consumes the output from the agile release train. Could be external customers or people within the organization.
The customers are the people who will have the final view on whether the output was valuable. - Business Owner – key stakeholders who are ultimately responsible for the business outcome.
- System Architect/Engineer – responsible for designing and sharing the architectural vision across
the agile release train, which means the work delivered will be fit for purpose.
Key SAFe roles at Solution level
The key SAFe roles and responsibilities at the solution level are:
- Solution Manager – responsible for prioritizing capabilities and ensuring they are well defined and understood.
- Solution Architect/Engineer - responsible for designing and sharing the architectural vision across multiple agile release trains,
which means the solutions delivered will be fit for purpose. - Solution Train Engineer – responsible for facilitating and guiding the work done by all of the agile release trains delivering the solution.
Key SAFe roles at Portfolio level
The key SAFe roles at portfolio level are:
- Epic Owners – responsible for defining an epic, articulating its benefits, and facilitating its implementation.
- Enterprise Architect – drives architectural initiatives for the portfolio.
Other key roles include:
- SAFe Program Consultant (SPC) – use their technical knowledge of SAFe to advance the organization’s systems, and processes for developing systems.
They are key to successfully implementing SAFe and often come from an internal center of excellence or from an external consultancy.
Agility in Mind has qualified SPCs as members of its consulting team. - Definitions of all the SAFe roles are included in the SAFe glossary https://www.scaledagileframework.com/glossary/
Role-related Training
Agility in Mind brings its extensive experience in helping organizations transform and succeed
using agile methods, applied through the Scaled Agile Framework, to help global enterprises.
Our training courses include the following as public, private, and Live Virtual Classroom.
If you would like to attend one of our SAFe training courses, check out our training schedule for dates or, contact us to find out
how we can provide a private course for you and your teams.
Courses we offer include: SAFe for Teams, SAFe Scrum Master, SAFe Product Owner/Product Manager, and Leading SAFe.
Recommended Reading
- Download our useful factsheets on all things agile
